As Denninmi said, pick when fully red. They will separate easily from the stem when ripe. I don't like them straight off the plant. I slow dry them in the oven (@200f) until they are raisins and eat them for snacks. This last Summer the yellow jackets discovered them and I found that some had holes "drilled" into them. Maybe I'll put some mosquito netting up this year. As healthy as they are I figure they are worth the bother.

When I first started seed saving, back in the 80s, I used to carry a couple colorful bean seeds in my pocket, a lot of the time. Whenever there was a "convenient" pause in a conversation I would often pull out one or two of those beans and start to explain about the varieties. My father-in-law concluded that I could "spin a yarn" over any bean seed at all! I have done the exact same thing with Jacobs Cattle, back around 1985. I remember being at grad school, one afternoon, and sitting on the side of a planter, waiting for a ride. I suddenly noticed that there was a hole in the vinca, planted there. So, I reached into my pocket and pulled out that Jacob's Cattle seed, poking it into the ground. It came up before the week was out. I was disappointed, the next week, to discover that someone on grounds had weeded it out. George Tahlequah, OK

OSUEngineer, I generally have the same experience except when the weather is wildly fluctuating from too hot to too cold weekly. When that happens, often the bigger ones bolt. It is that whole biennial thing that happens once they're a certain size and then exposed to a week of very cold weather. It really doesn't happen that often though. The smallest ones usually aren't worth planting---I mean the really tiny ones. I usually just drop them into the path to blend in with the mulch. I like the medium-sized plants since they are the easiest to keep happy, but this year even th great big ones stayed happy. You know, if the onions are happy, I'm happy. Since we haven't had that erratic weather down here this year, our onions are way ahead of their usual schedule. It is sort of astonishing to see what happens when the onions haven't had to deal with much cold weather at all since they were planted. I rarely have had onions reach the 15-16 leaf stage in May, when they reach it at all, and this year all the larger ones just about have hit that point. I feel like I walk through a forest of onions every day, but I'm not complaining. I'm so glad to hear that buying direct from Dixondale is working out so well for you. It was a gentleman from Texas, now deceased, who used to post here on GW as GoneFishin' who convinced me to try ordering from Dixondale many years ago. He always had the most beautiful onions and so I decided to try ordering direct to see if I could get onions as nice as his. I think maybe this year I finally have onions as big and as happy and as healthy as his always were, but it has taken me the better part of 2 decades to get there. See how nice it can be when the weather cooperates? When a few of mine have died like yours did, I always assume they might have had a disease or got too dried out after being pulled or whatever. It happens. I think Dixondale overpacks to account for that. Kim, Normally, if you cut off the necks instead of curing the onions properly, the onions will not store as well, but much depends on the varieties too. With all the sweet southern type varieties (most short day and intermediate day length types fall in this category), they really don't store for a real long time anyway so it might not hurt to cut off their leaves. Would I do it? No. But, these are your onions and you're the Queen of your garden so you should feel free to do whatever you choose. To understand why curing them with the leaves on is important, I'll just say that as the onions cure, the necks dry and shrink down. During this process the onion skins/wrappers are drying and sort of shriveling and pulling tight. Allowing this to happen naturally takes a while but is important---there's more to gardening than just the growing---you want to maximize your harvest's usage via proper curing and storing. The wrappers/scales/skins (whatever you choose to call them) will help protect the onions in storage. If you cut off the leaves before the drying process finishes up, the skins may not dry properly and pull tight to protect the onions from bacteria. Normally, once the skins pull tight and dry out, then you can cut the leaves off about 1" above the bulb. The reason you don't cut closer is because cutting too close can allow bacteria to infiltrate. If you prefer and if your leaves have dried down really well without getting mildew or fungi or anything, you can braid the onions together like you do with garlic. With storage onions (generally the long day length types and a few of the intermediate types), it is very important to let them cure properly. If cured properly they can last in storage from 4 to 10 months, which is just awesome. Imagine never having to buy an onion at the grocery store all year. Cutting off the leaves too early without curing properly could interfere in the curing process and cause them to sprout really early instead of storing for months. So, weigh your options. If you're wanting to cut some to use the greens, try it with a few and see how they store and then you can determine if you want to try it with more of them. The best way to learn is to experiment to see what works for you in your particular conditions and circumstances. I learned how important proper curing was early in my adult gardening life by not curing properly----that is why I feel like it is so important. When I slowed down and stopped being so impatient and allowed them to cure properly on their schedule as they needed instead of on/by my schedule, my storage time of all varieties pretty much doubled. For me, there was a huge lesson in that. You know, I helped my dad all the time when I was a kid--toddler-sized, really, through young adulthood and I never really thought much about what he did or how he did it. I just did things the way he'd shown me or told me and that was that. I didn't question his methods. They worked. I might not have understood why they worked, but I knew they did. Later on, as an adult with my own garden and with Alzheimer's Disease stealing his mind, I wish I previously had asked a lot more questions and written down his answers while he still could provide those answers. By the time I wanted/needed to ask questions to learn why we did things a certain way, he no longer could answer those questions. It took me another 10 years on my own to develop a good understanding of it all---not so much an understanding of what he did, but of why he did it and why it mattered and why I needed to do it too. I always try to explain the why's when I can because he didn't explain them to me and that caused me, eventually, to have a much longer learning curve. Dawn

Hard to say how the dog will react. Mine did not like it at all. He was 6 at the time. He was so insecure thinking we no longer loved him (would not get out of my lap!), that we were replacing him, that he would be cast off that he would have nothing to do with the puppy. It was sad to watch him ignore the new dog and he continued to treat him that way for the next 12 years. He remained alpha which was good, at least he didn't have to fight for that title because the new dog was by nature very passive. It's best to know from whoever has the dog you plan on adopting if they think the dog has an aggressive or passive personality. Our dogs never fought but if the new dog was aggressive then they may have. When my older dog got to the age where he could no longer keep up on walks it became increasingly more difficult for us because we didn't want the older dog to feel the sadness of being slower. It wasn't fair to the younger dog who needed longer walks. As the disparity grew we were forced to take them on separate walks. That took up more time. When our first dog got to be really old we weren't able to go places anymore because he needed to be looked after 24 hrs a day. That went on for a couple years which meant the younger one stayed at home a lot too. I would never have two dogs again so far apart in age. I have to say though, when it was time for our dog to leave us I did find a lot of comfort having another dog...an heir and a spare. ;-) He made the pain a little less severe. Now he's elderly and slowing down. After taking the back seat all those years to a more dominant dog I want him to live out his remaining time feeling like he is finally the most important dog in the world to us. And he's is loving the attention. The difference between my situation and yours is that you have young children and I don't have any. I would be concerned that a 4 yr old would still be too young not to pester your first dog as he ages. Dogs don't like to be bothered when they're older and children might be nipped at if they aren't taught by the parents to respect the elderly dog's space. So maybe having a younger dog to romp around with would be a good idea for your children. They can focus their high energy on the young dog, allowing the other dog to watch but not be expected to participate. But I wouldn't wait any longer.